Sword Art Online: Intermission
by Kenji Hiroshi
Summary: Supplementary side-stories to Sword Art Online: Companionship and the upcoming Sword Art Online: Determination, serving as a bridge between the two arcs.
1. A Matter of Skills and Proficiency

It was the 27th of January, and we found ourselves once again on the 8th Floor of Aincrad amidst an ocean of trees.

This wasn't the first Floor we had encountered that was laid out like this. The last had been the 3rd Floor. As you recall the entire Floor had been dominated by the «Forest of Wavering Mists» with very few exceptions, though exceptions did exist. This mostly revolved around caves, which often served as the site for quests and dungeons. The 8th Floor sported a far larger forest with very few grasslands to speak of. In fact, I hadn't recalled seeing any! Not even a lonely rock formation to break up the monotony. Thankfully the pathways weren't too hard to traverse once you were familiar enough with the landscape.

Our mission was two-fold: advance our Skill proficiencies and increase our Levels.

Progress was good and steady. We still hadn't joined the front-line population, but we were pushing determinedly to catch-up. Our Levels and new Skills were a firm indicator of our resolve. Arashi and I, as usual, were even; we both sat at Level 28, and were only two Levels away from grabbing our sixth Skill slot. Our last slot had been at Level 20. I had taken «Battle Healing» which itself was a useful Skill to possess, albeit something of a double-edged sword. To level it you had to suffer damage whilst already being in the red portion of your HP. Arashi had been a Godsend in this regard and pulled Hate every time I needed him to. Arashi, meanwhile, had invested in «Meditation». This Skill increased the user's natural HP recovery whilst offering increased resistances to several Status Effects, chief amongst them Paralysis.

Combine this with Arashi's weapon, which had an HP Leech effect, and his armour, which had a natural HP recovery, and Arashi had cemented himself as an HP battery.

Humorously, however, was the way Arashi obtained it. He claimed to have met this old Elf on the 6th Floor who constantly whacked him with a stick for having - and I quote - impure thoughts. So, you can imagine how much we laughed when, after three days, Arashi finally unlocked the Skill and told us there would be no more mention of old elves and sticks. What we didn't laugh at was his Proficiency level. It was at 500! We hadn't done much experimentation with the «Awakening» modification of this new Skill, but Arashi was walking around like a prized bull at show.

«Are we going to stay a while longer, Kishi?» Shiro messaged me on the guild channel.

We weren't in a dungeon, just a massive ocean of trees.

«Yeah, Asuka messaged me a little while ago.» I typed. «Ryne and her are close to dinging. I think the same's true for Raixas.»

«You're right.» Raixas added.

Asuka, Ryne and Jiro were sitting nicely on Level 25. Shiro was Level 26 whilst young Raixas was sitting at an impressive 27 - if he dinged in this session he'd be the equal to Arashi and I. Like Arashi and myself they had each invested in a few new Skills. Shiro hadn't picked up a combat Skill when he reached Level 20 and instead fulfilled a long-time goal by grabbing «Carpentry», and he was quite surprised when we gave him our blessing to do so. He admitted that he expected some resistance but to be honest, I wasn't worried. At the moment he could get by with «One-handed Sword», «Shield», «Howl» and «Heavy Metal Armour». This gelled well with Raixas who already had «Lumber» slotted and together they had accumulated a sizeable amount of money selling hand-carved figurines to the tourists on the lower Floors. It was Shiro's intent to eventually work his way up to crafting furniture which, of course, was where the real money laid in carpentry in Sword Art Online. As for the future of his Skills he fully intended to grab «Meditation» in the same way Arashi had once he hit Level 30.

Asuka, meanwhile, had taken «Throwing Blade» at Level 20. Aside from providing a slew of options in addition to long-range attacks, it allowed her to maximize the effectiveness of her «Sheath Knife Belt». This awesome piece of waist-wear allowed Asuka to equip upwards of three «Throwing Picks» and attack with them without removing her claws or entering an «Irregular Equipment» state, which would usually ensue should the belt be absent. According to her at the time it had been a no-brainer and I couldn't argue with her. It really did round out her Scout-build.

"Kishi, while we're levelling, do you want to level your «Battle Healing» a little more?" Raixas asked me.

"If you're okay nursing me, kid."

"Of course!"

Raixas, I believe, had been the first player to discover the «Dancing» Extra Skill. Argo had told me all about it, you see, and I had since unlocked it myself. I hadn't slotted it and doubted I ever would, but you know me and how I like to have options by now, right? There was no magic in Sword Art Online. It wasn't like older MMO's where a player could play a magical class and throw a literal fireball at an opponent's head. God, I missed those days! That said, Aincrad wasn't completely without magic. This was most commonly felt in the special attributes of equipment, but certain effects I had seen could only be described as magical in nature.

«Dancing» was one such instance and was the Skill Raixas had slotted at Level 20.

I attracted the attention of several monsters and deliberately allowed them to take me into the red zone. Normally, this is when a player would panic. Not me. My «Battle Healing» Skill was just over 100 in Proficiency and this meant I was recovering 200 HP every 10 seconds, which should give you a solid idea of how long my companions and I had been employing this little scheme. Whilst this only barely blunted their attacks against me I was still losing HP and ordinarily I would eventually die if this continued uninterrupted. That was where Raixas came in. «Dancing» was one of the few Skills in the game I had encountered that applied to the whole party when used. By using various dances he could impart a number of useful effects. One of these was called «Faith-healing Waltz». This dance - it was still classified as a Sword Skill funnily enough - provided a party-wide HP restoration buff which restored 5% of the targets maximum HP every ten seconds, which itself lasted for 60 seconds. This, of course, stacked with my own healing buff. As long as my buff was in effect and Raixas was dancing, there was no way these monsters would kill me.

To sum it up nicely my restoration was greater than the sum of their damage.

Arashi, meanwhile, was there for insurance. Whenever he wasn't attacking anything he was taking the time to strike a meditative pose to reapply his «Meditation» buff whenever it dropped off.

"You know, this isn't boring at all." Arashi finally said.

The sarcasm dripped from him.

"It could be worse." Raixas pointed out. "Kishi's been getting slashed and gouged all day."

"I should have gone with the others." Arashi bit back.

Farther into the forest was where Shiro was Tanking opponents for Ryne, Asuka and Jiro. Jiro's decision for a Skill had probably received the greatest attention from all of us, because he wasn't sure what to go with himself. There were a few options we talked about, though what he ultimately went with was «Martial Arts». This addressed the main weakness of the spear he favoured, as it allowed him to attack in very close-quarters with kicks should the need arise and served to round his build out well. It also had the unforeseen side effect of opening up a «Composite» attack called «Pole Vault». This Sword Skill allowed Jiro to use a gap-closing kick by slamming his spear into the ground and using it to propel himself towards his target with a powerful dual kick. Ryne's Skill, meanwhile, had been very easy: «Extended Weight Limit». In her own words more space for loot meant more loot to sell, and more to sell meant more money. She really did have a one-track mind, that girl.

By around 17:00 we were thoroughly exhausted!

"Whew, all I want to do is eat a tonne of food!" I exclaimed.

"I think I'll go back to the inn and drink myself into oblivion." Shiro added.

By the number of hands that went up it seemed that Arashi and Jiro were going to join him. Asuka, meanwhile, said she would join me.

"What about you, kid?" I asked of Raixas. "You want something to eat?"

He considered his response for a little while before slowly shaking his head.

"No, thank you. The twins asked me to take them to the «Dead Woods Mausoleum» to hunt down some relics. Apparently, they think our accessories could do with improvement."

"We should eat in Mananarena then." Asuka suggested. "We'll only be a couple of minutes away if they need us."

"Agreed."

"I'll go with you, Little Fuji." Ryne added. "It'll be just like old times."

The twins had been hard at work doing their own thing over the last few days and this mostly revolved around crafting and making money. That said, they weren't completely without combat know-how any more. They weren't quite as high-levelled as the rest of us, on account of their experience rising mostly from fetch-type quests that required no battling on their part, but they had recently reached Level 20 and gained their fifth Skill slots. Instead of adding more crafting Skills as I had expected them to do, they instead opted for «Martial Arts» instead. Raixas had helped them do so by luring the «Trembling Ox» on the 2nd Floor the same way I had many moons ago now and using it to break the large stone. With that achieved the twins could actually take part in proper battle now.

They also didn't have the worry of equipment maintenance. Raixas kept the hate firmly on him and thus they were rarely, if ever, damaged.

Asuka and I retired to a small restaurant with a very basic menu. It was designed to service the miners of the town. It may be basic, sure, but it was good and wholesome food. I settled on a hearty meat stew, a couple pieces of thickly cut bread, and a pint of Aincrad's beer. Asuka went for the vegetable soup. When it arrived and I saw several lumps floating in it, I asked her what they were.

"What, haven't you ever seen potatoes in soup before?"

I was horrified!

"Potatoes? In soup!? That sounds disgusting!"

And it was. She consented to let me try some and I ate a mouthful right off her fork. The soup itself was delicious, but I found the mushy texture of the potato to be off-putting.

"Yup, that's foul."

"You big baby."

The actual dining experience in Aincrad, as usual, went by far too quickly. One dish followed by another the moment you finished the first? Yeah, not exactly conducive to a romantic evening, or even casual conversation. So we ended up ordering a total of four times; the first was our starters, and after about a good fifteen minutes of casual talk we ordered again, which was the main course. The third was our dessert, and we only ordered this after a good twenty minutes had passed. By the time we were sitting down to a cup of coffee - or at least what Sword Art Online passed off as coffee - we had been seated at the same table for almost an hour-and-a-half. There was still a good number of low-level players on the 5th Floor courtesy of the «Relic» craze and the ease of making money off of it, so we actually saw a good stream of people pass through.

I was fairly sure the NPC waiter was giving us evil looks too.

"Do you think we'll ever clear this game?"

As Sasakibe would say, the question came completely out of left field, and for a good while I was silent.

"... Yeah, we will. But I can't sugar coat it. People will die."

She didn't look surprised by my answer.

"... Make sure you aren't one of them." She added.

"You've got «BS» beside your name." I pointed out. She looked momentarily stunned, and quite prepared to sock me on the jaw, before remembering that our guild abbreviation was BS. "That means I'll get you through this game, one way or another. Airi… I promise you'll see your cats again."

It was amazing how serious I could look when I tried but not even I could hold a straight face when I said that last bit about her cats.

"You're such an idiot!"

"Aye, but that's why you adore me."

I liked to consider it one of my finest qualities. I could relax anyone, even Arashi, with words alone. This game exacted a high toll - I hadn't encountered an environment where so many things could kill you, and this was even including that time I went to Australia on holiday. And, of course, death here meant death in the real world. So when Asuka looked at me, smiled, and squeezed my hand, I knew I had succeeded again. She was smiling. It was true there were some things that could only be expressed by words but there were also times when words weren't needed. This was one such time.

I knew Asuka's heart and she knew mine.

"Should we get back to it? I'm pretty sure those three boys will be drunk by now."

Considering Elise's «Pigeon Ruby» did not take into account one's natural constitution, Asuka's claim would likely turn out to be spot-on. I found it quite funny though that Asuka was calling them "boys" when she was younger than them all. Yeah, you heard me right. In the real world Asuka was only 17 years old. Hard to imagine, I know, considering how mature she is. Well, compared to us, at any rate. Hell, compared to some of us, Raixas was more mature. I will, of course, deny having admitted that.

We took the tunnel from Mananarena to Karluin and from there took the teleport gate to Rovia, back on the 4th Floor. We arrived before long and once there Asuka headed off to our inn to round up the others. I didn't join her however and instead knocked on the door of a two-story player-house close to the teleport plaza.

"It's the 'decidedly cheeky fellow'," I shouted through the door. "So open up!"

"Kishi, old boy!"

"Evening, Sasakibe! Nice place you've got here."

Sasakibe beckoned me inside. The lower floor of their house was set aside for printing presses and book writing and this was where Alisaie was currently. She was bent over a wooden desk making notes, most likely pertaining to whatever dungeon they had most recently cleared. They would run it a few more times to narrow down monster patterns and potential secrets, traps, etc, and once they had they'd sell their guides to the player population. The rest of the guild was upstairs; I could hear Risa and Johnny talking, and Benkei was likely up there too.

I had to admit to being impressed by their work. The guides «Last Remnant» made had proved quite popular amongst the lower-levelled players.

"Hey there, Alisaie. Keeping busy?"

She adjusted her oval-shaped glasses and looked up at me and if she were in the real world I'd say she was exhausted. The signs weren't as easy to spot in the virtual world as fatigue was a complicated thing.

"Hello, Kishi. I'm a little swamped, to be honest. Lots of orders to fill."

"None of us have the writing flair, I'm afraid." Sasakibe added. "And she refuses to let our clients down."

That was hardly fair.

"I can help." Her violet-tinged blue eyes lit up at my offer. "As Sasakibe knows, I used to review games. So I'm no stranger to the pen. Where should I start? Unless ol' Sasakibe here has any objections?"

"None!" He replied.

"How many of the newer dungeons have you ran?" Alisaie asked.

"At the minute? Nothing below the 8th Floor."

"Then you're more or less at the same point we are. Your help would be greatly appreciated!"

"Let's get to it. Oh, and that reminds me. Ryne, the twins, and Raixas are relic hunting in the «Dead Woods Mausoleum». I'll ask Ryne- No, no I won't. She'll only insist on charging you. I'll ask Raixas to stop by and chime in."

"Thanks!"

It was after 21:00 before Raixas walked into the room and joined us. With his input we managed to get through Alisaie's rewrites before midnight, at which point she thanked us profusely.

"Looking through these," Raixas began, "I see you haven't documented much on gathering nodes. Some dungeons, like the public mine at the bottom of Mananarena for example, have great mining locations. I could write up a list for you?"

"... That would be fantastic, thank you. But you've already done so much for me today! I couldn't impose on you any further."

"Nonsense." I said smoothly. "I'll take it as a personal slight if you don't ask us for help. Any friend of Sasakibe's is a friend of mine."

On the way back to our inn I saw Raixas stifle a yawn with the back of his gloved hand.

"I think someone needs their bed."

"I'm completely beat!" He admitted. "This never happened when I was alone."

"Yeah, well, get some sleep. You can fill me in on the accessory hunt in the morning."

"Okay."

They had quite a haul though sadly it wasn't in the form of new accessories. They found some, sure, but nothing that was superior to what we had already. Still, the four of them dragged in a remarkable amount of cor for little over two or three hours of work, and it would go a long way to buying us good accessories when we moved up to the 8th Floor tomorrow. And that could make all the difference. Sword Art Online was still a death game after all and every edge, no matter how slight, could make all the difference.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Shiro asked me.

"I think its time we all got used to working together."

This led the twins to look up at with big eyes.

"Does that mean-"

"Yup, you're coming with us today. Sheila, you and Raixas will join Team A. Elise, you are with Arashi's Team B. Stay close to Ryne."

"Okay!"

And that was how things proceeded for us for a good while. Grinding levels and Skill proficiency, helping our companion guild «Last Remnant», and building up our equipment and coffers. I couldn't say how long it would take us to reach the front-line proper and start actively clearing labyrinths and fighting Floor Bosses, but it was definitely what we were working towards.

One thing was for sure: we had plenty of time.


	2. Matters of Trust

For once, the landscape proved to be quite pleasant. Even though today's exertions took me to the 20th Floor as a favour to our friends in «Last Remnant», our forested surroundings didn't blot out the high sun. The forest canopy and foliage wasn't as tightly packed as those we had travelled through on the 3rd and 8th Floors of Aincrad, and I found the warm rays of an afternoon sun quite invigorating! I had to admit that this was a welcome change. Although I had enjoyed the «Elf War» campaign quests, specifically the early chapters, the prevailing mist of the 3rd Floor had quite annoyed me, and that was before I even recalled the 8th Floor.

Those suspended bridges- No, not going there! I've had enough of bridges. And death-inducing falls from said bridges. No, no! Moving on.

It was a lovely change of pace to be out in the sun, with a pleasant breeze kissing my cheek, rather than moist mist or high winds that would likely cause wind burn in the real world. Or heights. NO! No more thinking about that. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts. Warm apple tart with cream on the side and custard. Playing with my cats. Kicking Arashi in the shin. Venice, on the canal, with a setting sun. I exhaled, felt my calm return, and smiled.

"Asuka!"

"Yeah?"

Risa was the woman who addressed me. In the intervening weeks she had replaced the «Medium Metal Armour» Kishi had referred to as the «Tortoise Shell» with an impossibly protective piece of armour I could best describe as a chain mail bikini top. From the waist down she wore shiny bronze that gleamed in the sunlight, that covered every inch of skin, but how in the name of all creation anyone could look at the top portion and think "yeah, that'll protect me" was utterly beyond me. If the walking talking testosterone gauge that was Johnny could see side-boob, then it was highly inappropriate. And this was one of our Tanks! Suffice to say I felt far more comfortable and at ease when I stood behind the giant Benkei, whose armour was «Heavy Metal».

"We'll be leaving in five!"

"Okay! I'll be along shortly."

We were currently making our way through the «Sunshine Forest» for the third time, which was a dungeon location on the 20th Floor. As usual the five-person «Last Remnant» guild were out running the various dungeons for eventual inclusion in their "Dungeon Delver's series", which was a factual strategy guide they sold to fellow players. The series covered dungeons usually eschewed by the front-line community, and thus weren't included in Argo's own strategy guides, and had been marketed recently as a compliment to Argo's established guides. In addition, they were quite expansive and covered information ranging from monsters and accepted strategies to overcome them, known monster drops including rare items, whether certain chests restocked after a set period of time, secret areas, traps and the stats and Skills necessary to avoid them, lore mentions, and quests that used said dungeon as a location and what quests these were. My job, as you'll recall, was to help with trap detection and avoidance, and I was making notes on that very subject which would be handed over to Alisaie when Risa had called over to me.

With my points jotted down, I jogged over to my party.

"Ready."

«Stay... behind... me.» Benkei said to me, signing in sign-language. «You don't… like insects.»

«Thank you, Benkei.»

He really was a sweetheart.

As Benkei had alluded to, the prevalent monster encounter in the «Sunshine Forest» was a Bug-type creature identified in-game as a «Killer Mantis», which was big, and green, and - to quote Arashi - downright fugly. These monsters skittered about on four spider-like legs and attacked with two limbs I could best describe as scythe-like, so you can imagine my reaction considering I disliked anything bug-like on account of my real-life allergies. Damnable insects! Why was it always insects!? Ugh. Still, they gave good experience and cor: 352 EXP and 190 cor respectively, so we made a point of beating down each one we encountered, just to be thorough. Oh, goodie! That said, it wasn't as if the «Killer Mantis» was the sole creature to be found in these forests. Just like any forest there was no shortage of critter, fantastical or not, to be found, with one in particular being of particular note. This creature was known as a «Canim Stalker».

It wasn't quite a werewolf, which I was quite familiar with thanks to their prevalence in film and television, and it wasn't quite a man, either. It was certainly anthropomorphic, but it looked altogether more human than I would expect for a werewolf. After our first run through the dungeon and I had returned to my own guild for the night, I had asked Kishi about it. As usual, he was able to cast some light on the subject.

We had talked about it over our evening dinner.

"You said they were called Canim?" I could see flashes of nostalgia reflected in those green eyes. These were happy memories. "Hmm, sounds like Kayaba's borrowed from more than just myths and legends when he crafted this lovely floating castle of his."

"How do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, have you ever read Codex Alera? The first book was released back in 2004, with the sixth dropping a little later; in 2009, if I remember right. Back in our school days Arashi and I ran a tabletop RPG using its setting. The Canim were a race of walking-talking wolves, who happened to be vicious fighters. I role-played one, actually."

He looked momentarily sad, though I couldn't be sure how much of it was feigned on account of Sword Art Online's tendency to exaggerate emotion. Still, it seemed feigned.

"Rest in peace Lupin." He exclaimed finally.

Feigned. Called it!

"... You stole that from Harry Potter!"

He managed to look momentarily shocked, as if the whole idea of him stealing the name of a fantasy character was preposterous! That was when he shrugged his shoulders.

"... Guilty, as usual."

"... Why did I have to fall for such a geek?" I whispered.

"Say what now?" He asked, an alarmed look falling across his face.

"Never you mind!"

I had to marvel at Kishi's knowledge sometimes though. Sure, it mostly concerned games and books, and things connected by games and books, but he certainly knew his stuff in that limited field. He also had a few surprising anecdotes about life in general, though I'd never tell him that. His head was big enough as it was, and I feared that if it got any bigger we'd never fit him through a dungeon door again.

"What exactly did this Canim do, anyway?" He asked.

"It was no vicious fighter." I admitted. "Sorry, but it was rather weak. Lupin would likely have been very annoyed. This one ran about with a cloak, almost hunched over, like it was scurrying about looking for something. It did drop this though."

He reverted to a child marvelling over the latest new toy.

"Oh, shiny!" He exclaimed with a childish clap of his hands.

"You're doing this on purpose now, aren't you?"

"Maybe."

What I materialized was a weapon-set that was a sub-category of «One-handed Dagger» known in-game as «Hidden Blade», but it had some extra conditions attached to its usability. For one, you needed the aforementioned Skill equipped in addition to «Martial Arts» which, in a way, made it similar to the case presented by Benkei's «Flail» and Ryne's almost exclusive use of «Chakram». It took the form of two blades mounted on the underside of the wrists, and an additional two blades attached to the sole, with the blade poking out a little ahead of the person's toes. Not very fashionable, sure, but who was I too judge? I was running around with my entire left-arm covered in ugly metal, and Risa had the bare-face to wear a chain-bikini. Don't even get me started on Ryne! This particular example of «Hidden Blade» was called «Obsidian Fang» with the blades seemingly made from roughly cut obsidian stone, blackened, with a reflective and decidedly jagged cutting edge. Since I couldn't equip it I didn't know if it would override the physical appearance of any gloves or boots you wore, but I suspected this to be the case.

Given I had no experience of games before Sword Art Online I was quite pleased by my ability to make educated guesses like that. Again, don't tell Kishi. Big head syndrome.

"Never seen the like in the beta." Kishi admitted, suddenly serious. "I'll message Argo and see what she can turn up about it. If it goes well, it might be a good option for the twins. They've already got «Martial Arts»."

"Right, I'll leave that to you. As for me, I'm calling it a night. We're running the dungeon again tomorrow, but we should all be back for the evening. Maybe we could take it easy, grab something to eat then?"

"It's a date!"

I was brought fully back into the present by Sasakibe.

We had just finished mopping up the last of the monsters and were in the process of finalizing the details of our run. Risa was locked in conversation with Alisaie, no doubt comparing notes, whilst Johnny was contemplating whose backside held more appeal: Alisaie or Risa? He had long ago stopped ogling mine, especially when I let it slip in casual conversation that I was the cause of Arashi's scars and that, as a child, I had a terrible habit of breaking conkers with my father's work tools. When the big guy messaged Arashi for clarification the response paled him significantly, though he never made me privy to the particulars of that message. Regardless, it worked. Johnny, thoroughly fearful for his danglers, returned his unwanted attention to his two real-life friends.

I had far more time for Benkei who, as usual, was quiet, though he always had a big grin for me when I approached him. I had been teaching him sign language you see, as one of my aunts was deaf, and I figured he would benefit should I teach him. Inside dungeons one couldn't communicate using the in-game messaging system - which I was now a master in, I'll have you know - so Benkei was especially put out. The giant was an absolute softy at heart and had been so traumatized by the first day announcement back in November 2022 that he was rendered mute. Even in spite of that the big guy had looked out for me more than he probably should. Those «Killer Mantis» for example? They never so much as glanced in my direction when Benkei was around. His use of «Fighting Spirit» ensured this whilst keeping our HP bars healthy.

«Good work today.» I signed, with deliberate slowness. «I really appreciate it.»

«Thank you... Asuka.»

«I'll drop by tomorrow for lessons.» I added.

«Looking… forward… to it.»

The pauses showed that he still wasn't quite familiar with this new method of communication, but he was really trying hard, and learning fast. He'd be having full-blown conversations with me in no time flat!

My silent conversation with Benkei was interrupted by Sasakibe however.

"Here, this dropped for me earlier." It was another «Obsidian Fang». "You said Kishi thought they'd be ideal for the twins? If so, you'll need two."

"Thanks, they'll be delighted."

Thankfully, having already run this particular dungeon twice before over the last couple days, our journey through the third time took next to no time at all, with it more-or-less being old-hand to us, as Sasakibe would say. There was still plenty of daytime left, of which I was thankful. This was more a fine-tuning kind of run where Alisaie narrowed down everything she needed for her guide than a proper run where we picked the place clean like a scavenger kicking clean an animal's corpse.

Ugh, I've spent too much time around Arashi, lately. What kind of comparison is that!?

"Asuka, dear girl, we can't thank you enough." Sasakibe noted. "Here, and you earned every penny."

I always liked the jangling of a coin purse, but when you used the trade window, it just wasn't the same, as it went directly into my personal funds. Not a word to Shiro! I listen to enough of his jibes about my obsession with treasure.

"Thanks. Let me know when the next run is, okay?"

"Will do!" Alisaie added, before Sasakibe could reply. He looked thoroughly chastised by this rude interjection, and I giggled despite myself. "Well make sure you guys get a copy free of charge!"

I could have done any number of things from there. Kishi, Shiro, the twins, and Ryne were on the Floor below us farming mobs in the labyrinth, whilst Arashi and Jiro were running a few prospective recruits through dungeons on the lower Floors. I think they were in the «Thousand Snake Castle» down on the 10th Floor, but I had to admit to being somewhat unsure. I hadn't taken part in the guild meeting as I had already promised my aid to «Last Remnant».

Instead of joining either group I set my sights elsewhere. You see, I had somewhere more important to be.

Rather than remain on the 20th Floor I opted instead to teleport down to the 11th Floor. I had spent a good deal of time with Kishi and the others lately and I had been neglecting something else, which wasn't particularly well-known even amongst my guild. You see, young Raixas was, at his core, a very shy young man. He may act confident and brave around the twins, especially Sheila, but who doesn't act a little braver than usual when you're trying to impress someone? The truth remained that he was a 13-year-old boy, and the truth remained that he was alone and not used to having someone he could talk to or come to with his problems.

He grew up his grandparents, after all, and they were an entirely different generation. I'm sure they loved him very much but chances are they didn't understand him. Shiro and I had been getting him used to the idea that he could confide in us, so when he asked to meet me away from the others I couldn't refuse him.

«Just finished up with Sasakibe and co. I'll be along shortly.» I messaged, privately.

«Thanks for this.» He replied.

Taft, the premier town of the 11th Floor, was absolutely packed to bursting with two-storey stone buildings and tight little stone streets, which created something of a navigational nightmare. Back when this Floor had first been opened you could barely walk down the street without some arrogant prick from the front-line running his mouth. To be honest, I was amazed the place hadn't gone like London had during the aptly named Great Plague which, of course, led into the great fire. The main difference was cleanliness but keeping people, and buildings, this jam-packed seemed like a bad idea to me. In addition to the tightly-packed nature of Taft the town also sported a drainage canal that was, by some fluke of the architecture, concealed from prying eyes. This was what made it appeal to me but only because it made Raixas feel more comfortable.

Raixas, who sat within the shadows with his back against the stone wall, waved at me shyly as I approached.

"Asuka! Thanks for coming."

"No problem." I replied evenly, but I had to know, so I asked. "What's with all the secrecy, though? What's the matter?"

"Well, um, you see… Hmm. This isn't easy to talk about."

One of my pet peeves regarding Sword Art Online - and I touched on this earlier - was the way that the so-called "system" showed emotion, whether it was happiness, sadness, anger, or, in this case, hesitation. I wasn't a gaming genius like Kishi or a programmer for some big tech company like Jiro, so I wasn't even going to pretend that I knew what mechanics made the system act in this way, but the system exaggerated emotion of all kinds. So, even when you consider that he was standing in the shade, when Raixas's face went the colour of a succulent tomato I wasn't sure if he was just that embarrassed, or if the system had exaggerated his response.

I assumed the former and adopted my most understanding tone of voice.

"You can talk to me, Raixas. What is it?"

"... Kishi told me you know all kinds of things." He said, whispering low. Idiot; Kishi, not Raixas. "So I thought you'd be able to help me. Ryne means well, but she would only poke fun, I can't ask the twins without it being awkward, and the guys would only laugh at me."

I doubted that: Raixas had a lot of misconceptions about Kishi and the others, and most of them stemmed from Kishi and Arashi trying to be clever, like telling everyone that Kishi was Sheila and Elise's elder brother. I knew it was a scare tactic for Loki, but come on. It wasn't necessary. But Raixas didn't know them like I did; not yet, at any rate. I didn't really need to kneel down in-front of him. There wasn't a vast difference between us in terms of height, me being a certified short-arse and all. Arashi's words, not mine. I really needed to kick him sometime shortly, only this time it wouldn't be in the shin. But I did so anyway and I cupped his chin delicately between my thumb and index finger and turned his head towards me so that his turquoise eyes looked right at me.

"Raixas, you can tell me anything."

This was it: a genuine trust or don't trust moment, and I was delighted when the dice landed on trust.

"... Would you teach me how to dance?"

Wasn't expecting that, of all things.

"That's it? That's what all the secrecy was about?" He nodded twice. "Oh, Raixas."

He looked absolutely terrified! You know, when I got back I was going to give all of them in «Brightscale» a damn good talking too. He was on the verge of running, his lip was trembling, and his small frame was shaking. What kind of experiences had this boy had in the past that he couldn't feel comfortable asking someone a question like that? Then it struck me - and I kicked myself for not realizing it sooner. Sheila had mentioned off-hand that he disliked his hair; something about only his grandparents complimenting him on it. She had also mentioned how he spoke about bullies when he defended her against that idiot Loki, and how angry he sounded.

He had been the victim of bullying himself in the past, pure and simple, and he was still struggling with it. This was a matter of trust and building up his own self-confidence.

"I assume that this is for your «Dancing» Skill, right?" I asked.

He looked stunned. He was probably wondering when the jibes would begin, poor boy.

"... Partly." He answered, still whispering. "The «Pre-Motions» use actual dance moves, and the only one I've been able to work out on my own has been «Healing-waltz». And it's been so useful! There's so much more I could do with it. But I don't know what a box step or a feather step is. It was bad enough figuring out a heel turn!"

I sensed something… I don't know… deeper. So I encouraged him to share.

"... My grandmother says that she met my grandfather on the dance floor. And, well, I thought it would make me feel closer to them, somehow, now that we're stuck here."

Everyone, no matter their age, yearns for their parents - or their equivalents - comfort in times of duress. That was a universal truth.

"... I can dance, and I'd love to teach you. On one condition."

He looked terrified again and this time I hugged him, and when I spoke I did so softly in his ear.

"Don't be afraid of talking to me, even about embarrassing things. I promise I'll listen and if I can help, then I'll do it. Even when we clear this game, and we're back in the outside world, you can talk to me. Okay? Have we got a deal?"

I felt his arms tighten around me.

"We do!"

I reneged on my planned evening with Kishi - firing him off a quick message of apology, mind you - and instead took Raixas out for a meal down on the 2nd Floor after our first dance lesson, which had run almost three hours. It was the strangest dance experience I had ever had in all my life; there we both were, stepping through sludge and dirt, obscured all the while by the shadow of Taft's drainage ditch. If this had happened in the real world we'd be covered from heard-to-toe in dirt and grime, and would certainly have smelled rather ripe. There was indeed some benefits to the virtual world.

He didn't know where I was taking him and looked thoroughly confused when I led him through the back alleys and side-streets of Urbus.

Either he hadn't spent a great deal of time in the main town of the 2nd Floor when the Floor had opened up, or he had just genuinely missed it, but I took him to the same establishment that Kishi had taken me to back when I could rightly be called green-as-grass. What was it Arashi had called me? Oh, yeah! A noob. «Moo Moo Milk», if you remember, was the Italian-themed restaurant that sold the aptly called «Moo Moo Cheesecake». This was the food item that gave the damage-over-time buff that lasted for 24 hours.

This was a new one on him, which I had fully expected.

"I never knew this place existed!" Raixas exclaimed. "Oh, it's Italian. Sweet!"

"I suggest you save room for dessert. I promise you won't be disappointed, even if you dislike the flavour."

The decor hadn't changed, nor had the NPC waiter, and given its location the place was deserted. We were the only customers. It was early March and it didn't take long for darkness to fall, even with the way Aincrad sometimes fudged up the seasons. The lighting was more widespread inside to account for the time of year, but the atmosphere inside was unaffected. In no time flat our salads were before us, followed by our main course of kebabs - they were growing on me, I had to admit - and finally the dessert, which Raixas had allowed me to order for him.

He found the «Moo Moo Cheesecake» rather overwhelming, but admitted that the buff was very useful. That was when I explained the takeaway variant to him.

"Ah, so that's how you always seem to land so many DoT's!" He exclaimed. "I thought you'd found an exploit."

"I'm not Kishi, you know."

It was well into the late evening when we finished our meal and returned to our base on the 19th Floor, but just before we were about to enter the inn Raixas stopped short.

"Asuka… I'd like to thank you for today. Not just the dancing, and the meal, but all of it. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now come on, it's time you were in bed, young man."

It was probably the easiest time I had ever had convincing a teenager to go to their bed. As he climbed the stairs he met Kishi and Arashi halfway, with the former ruffling his hair. When Kishi reached the bottom he looked at me and smiled.

"He seems to have a spring in his step again." He noted. "Anything you need help with?"

"... No, I think I have everything well in-hand. Expect me to bust some delicate areas over the next few days though."

Even Arashi visibly gulped.


	3. Intermission Special: Tortilla Crusade

If I told you it was the 24th of February and I gave you time to think about what holiday we were currently observing, could I rightly say I've piqued your interest? No, no. Take your time. I promise you'll be as surprised as me.

None the wiser? Now you know how I felt when Asuka got her claws into me!

I can say this with complete and utter confidence: one thing I never expected to be doing in Aincrad was observing "National Tortilla Chip Day", of all things. Yeah, 'cause apparently that's a thing, and I feel justified not having known that. I mean, come on. It's a crunchy snack you eat at the cinema, for crying out loud! Why the hell would you need a holiday for it!?

Yet here I stood with an honest-to-goodness sombrero on my head and a bag of Elise's specially made tortilla chips in my hand. I looked like a right muppet!

"Asuka… I look a right pillock." I admitted, eye twitching.

Her eyes had gone the way they usually did when she saw something delicious, high in calories, and damaging to my wallet. Add to that the fact the virtual world was very forgiving on a lady's waistline and you arrived at a demonic combination that meant nothing but bad for me and mine.

"Dude, she has got to go."

Arashi stood at my flank. He was ever the supportive figure who never balked even when facing down a charging Minotaur with horns dropped or axe raised! Yet here, before Asuka and her amassed sombrero's and cake-shaped eyes, he looked frightened.

"... You know something? For once, you and I are in full agreement."

Asuka, though, heard nothing. She was still making a fuss of our hats, even as she adjusted the long ponchos draped over our dejected frames.

"Aww, I think you both look adorable! All you need is one of those little curved moustaches!"

"... Asuka, what the fuck have you been smoking!?"

Ah, poor Arashi. You had to love him, poor bastard. The guy was as blunt as a spoon and about as intelligent as one to boot. His mouth was like to lead him to have a severely shortened life-span, if he didn't learn to watch it. Asuka, you see, had a mean streak a mile long.

"This-" and he pointed towards the circular hat upon his head "-is not a good look for me. I look at things - go RAAAAGH! - real loud, and they run the other way. If I show up to Tank in a poncho with a bloody sombrero on my head and tortilla chips in my hand, I'll be mobbed by players and monsters alike!"

I suddenly pictured Arashi swimming in a sea of players demanding to know where he got the chips, with monsters snapping at his heels all the while, and I had to admit to some laughter.

But Asuka would have none of our antics today. This was her gig and she was running with it.

We spent the whole day - yup, the whoooooole day - down in the Town of Beginnings handing out bags of tortilla chips whilst calling everyone "hombre". When Arashi, however, said to hell with this shit in Mexican Spanish, that was when we learned to our detriment that Asuka spoke the parent tongue fluently. We also learned, to our collective fear, that she was seemingly blessed by Kayaba bloody Akihiko himself to never turn orange! When she smacked Arashi upside the head for swearing in front of children - they shouldn't even be playing the game, the little ingrates! - we never saw hide nor hair of a purple protective barrier, never mind a message prompt asking if we wanted to whisk her away to prison. She just assaulted us and nary a bleeding reprimand!

"Hax!" I called. "Hax!"

"Stop ruining tortilla day!" She called back.

Either all this was a terrible dream or we'd all gone stark-raving-mad! But suffice to say our desire to join the front-line community and catch up to those who were currently advancing us through this death game had effectively gone for a burton today. Instead, Arashi and I tried in vain to hide from a mad-woman with an unhealthy interest in tortilla chips, of all things.

I wish I was joking.

When we came across Shiro, Ryne and the twins returning to town from some errand or another, Shiro waved Asuka over.

"What did you go and do that for!?" I demanded.

"I'm sorry?"

"You will be with my boot up your ass!" Arashi bellowed. "That moody mare's gone off the deep end and what do you go and do!? 'Oh, hey, Asuka. We're over here!' You can go bite me!"

His imitation was actually rather good, I had to admit. Not that I would. I had a little thing called a survival instinct, for example.

We ran so fast Red Rum himself wouldn't have caught us on his best day! By the time we hit the forested area just outside the Town of Beginnings we thought ourselves rather safe, at least until I turned on my «Searching» Skill and my green-eyed gaze picked her out.

"That's it, I'm killing her." Arashi declared. "No more ponchos, no more sombrero's, and no more crazy people!"

"Look, you-"

"Hey, you two!" We heard a voice whisper. "Up here, quick!"

Looking up into the branches of the tree overhead we saw none other than the white-haired head of Raixas looking down on us. It was like seeing a heavenly angel, his white hair a halo of divine radiance atop his head, and for the first time ever I was happy to see the little guy! Hell, I could have kissed him. Because I knew that the little white-haired wonder had a «Cloak of Hiding»!

"Hurry up!"

We scrambled up the tree trunk as quickly as we could and nestled onto the branch beside him. Safely up beside him he shushed us both and proceeded to drape his «Cloak of Hiding» over us all. It was as if he had enveloped us in his angelic wings. Okay, I'll stop with the angelic references, I promise. We didn't speak, so I could only guess as to why Raixas was hiding out here, but I had a notion it was for similar reasons to our own. I couldn't tell you how long we sat there, the three of us in silence, but I was pretty sure all three of us were praying to any God that would listen to deliver us from the stupidity that was this day.

Next year, if I wasn't dead, the 24th of February would be a very good day to disappear for.

"Raxias, if I ever give you a hard time again, remind me of today." I said.

"Noted."

"... I'd rather we burn this from our memory, if its all the same to you two." Arashi insisted.

"... I can live with that."


End file.
